Poster #66 - Perceived Parental Support and Emotional Availability in Relation to Adolescent Anxiety

• In Event: Poster Session 13

Abstract

When youth go through adolescence, the essence of the parent-child relationship is altered (Benito-Gomez et al., 2020). Two factors that influence adolescent outcomes include parental autonomy support and controlling parenting (Soenens et al., 2018). When adolescents do not receive the autonomy they need, they are at a greater risk of developing anxiety and other internalizing symptoms (Chapman et al., 2016). In addition to autonomy support and controlling parenting, emotional availability is often evaluated as another perception of parenting (Benedetto et al., 2018). Levels of parental emotional availability may also have an impact on adolescents’ anxiety symptoms (Benedetto et al., 2018). While the literature on the three parenting constructs has shown correlations between them, less is known about how the three combine to affect anxiety or how they differ between parents. The hypotheses for this study predict that higher levels of autonomy support, lower levels of controlling parenting, and higher levels of emotional availability will lead to lower levels of anxiety in an adolescent population. Additionally, it is predicted that these perceptions will differ between mother and father figures. The data analysis is currently ongoing. A sample of adolescents will complete measures of adolescent anxiety (RCADS; Chorpita et al., 2000) as well as perceived parenting style (P-PASS; Mageau et al., 2015) and emotional availability (LEAP-C; Lum & Phares, 2005) for two parents. Preliminary analyses indicate that the emotional availability of both parents is related to anxiety (r(52) = -.38, p = .004; r(53) = -.35, p = .01) and perceived controlling mother figures are related with anxiety symptoms (r(52) = .40, p = .003). Findings from this study may indicate potential protective factors that parents can provide for their children going through adolescence.

Group Authors

N/A

Authors

• Mackenzie Trevethan, University of Toledo
  Presenting Author

• E. Bailey Crittenden

• Lauren Kramer, University of Toledo

• Emily Roemhild, University of Toledo

• Sarah Elizabeth Francis, University of Toledo